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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bass · wake · bark · capital · fan · bulb · tear · file

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. file — a document
  9. capital — money
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. capital — a city
  15. tear — to rip
  16. file — a line of people
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bass — low music
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a tool
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bark — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com